Foundation of Love: The Gypsy Blessing 2 (26 page)

Smith nodded and left.

William closed and locked the door.

Elizabeth became ill in Georgiana’s trashcan.

Chapter
19

It took a minute for Elizabeth to realize that William was holding back her hair as she was losing the contents of her stomach. When she was finally finished, she leaned back against the desk. His hands were trembling as he placed a box of tissues on the floor and walked away from her.

Elizabeth knew exactly what this looked like, but deep down, she knew it just couldn’t be true. William Darcy could
not
be offering bribes! Lambton Village was his baby, and he was meticulous when it came to safety. When local residents who had gone to work for Darcy Construction came into the store, she had asked about their experiences there. Many were impressed, but a few complained to her about some of the extra steps they were required to take on the job. In the end, she convinced them the rules were for the workers’ safety and that of those who would one day occupy the building. Additionally, they knew if they didn’t follow the rules, they’d be let go.

There just
had
to be some other explanation.

Elizabeth watched in a daze as William looked out through the blinds on the door in the direction of the gate. He waited. Elizabeth assumed he was watching Smith pull away. After a minute, he opened the door wide and screamed out into the empty jobsite, “Get in here right now!”

Without looking at Elizabeth, William grabbed another garbage can and thrust it toward her with such force that she flinched. He took the one she had just used and pitched it out the open doorway, then began pacing the long aisle between the desks.

Elizabeth moved to a desk near the door and sat down, watching him.

A minute later, Dan and Larry walked in. William grabbed Dan by the shirt and heaved him up against a wall. William roared, “I’m just about angry enough to beat you to a pulp, Dan. Why didn’t you send someone in here to help Elizabeth?”

Dan pushed William away from him, pointed at Elizabeth, and shouted at William, “I didn’t get her involved;
you
did.”

“She’s
not
involved with it at all, you idiot! Didn’t you get Gardiner’s message?”

Dan tightened his eyes. Obviously, he hadn’t.

“You must know that Smith called,” William said with revulsion, “giving Gardiner barely enough time to get here, or you wouldn’t be here. On the way, Gardiner was in a car accident. My plane was delayed. Since Elizabeth works for Gardiner, it wouldn’t be suspicious for her to be here, so he called her to let that piece of scum into the trailer so he wouldn’t leave before I got here. Following your instructions, Gardiner didn’t tell her about any of this. He assumed she’d be
safe—
after all, she was
within one hundred yards of the police and the assistant district attorney, who were supposed to be listening to everything that was going on in this trailer.” William’s voice rose in volume as he growled, “Meanwhile, Smith attacked her, and all of you just sat there
listening
? By whose orders?”

“I didn’t want to blow the investigation.” Dan raised his chin, gesturing toward Elizabeth. “She’s not cleared of suspicion. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Lizzy to expose herself if she were involved.”

Elizabeth’s jaw dropped.

William’s eyes opened even wider. “Elizabeth Bennett—the woman you asked to
marry
you? Why would you suspect the Bennetts are involved?

Larry made some sort of grunting noise. Elizabeth wondered if he suspected her, too.

“Money,” Dan stated calmly. “If Meryton Building Supply could skip the inspections, they could supply below-grade products and charge you for better material. They’d make a fortune on Lambton.”

William fought to maintain control of his temper. “Not only do I trust Elizabeth completely, but if there were below-grade products on this job, my men would have reported it.”

“The construction workers could have been paid off, too, Darcy, and the Bennetts still would have made a profit.”

If it were possible, William’s glare would have burned right through Dan’s head.

Dan spoke again, cautiously, “Larry came in when it sounded like she might get hurt.”

“Considering what I found when I got here, Smith
must
have said something to let you know she was in danger before that point. If I hadn’t come in, by the time Larry got here, Smith would have—” He stopped suddenly and glanced at Elizabeth. “If this is the type of investigation your department runs, then I want nothing to do with it.” He turned his head slightly to look at Larry. “And I’ll hire my own police force for Lambton Village.”

As Dan turned away, William grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, pinning him up against the wall once again. William’s arm was across Dan’s neck, not exactly choking him—but threatening to, forcing Dan to look at him.

“You do know what that bastard was going to do to her, don’t you?”

William was so red-faced now, Elizabeth was afraid for his health. She also noticed Larry was not coming to Dan’s aid, making her think Larry agreed with William. She wondered whose decision it was for Larry to come check on her earlier.

Remembering how guilty William had felt when he told her about what had happened with Wickham years ago, Elizabeth approached, placed both hands on William’s shoulders, and pulled gently—hinting that he should move away from Dan. “Will,” she said softly.

William stared into Dan’s eyes just a few moments longer before releasing him and pacing away.

Now standing directly before Dan, Elizabeth looked him squarely in the eyes. Finally recovered enough to think clearly, she demanded, “Am I cleared
now
, Dan?”

“Probably.”

Both Larry and William huffed their disbelief.

Elizabeth shook her head. “If you thought I was involved, why would you tell me about the investigation the other day?”

Dan’s expression changed to one more defensive than it should have been. “It was a test. I wanted to see how you reacted.”

She straightened to her full height, which was still several inches shorter than any of the men in the room. “But you asked me to marry you the day before!”

“It was actually your answer that moved your family up on the suspect list. The District Attorney felt that the only reason you would turn down an offer like that was if your family
were
involved.”

Mouth gaping open, Elizabeth looked at Larry. Larry shook his head with disgust.

“And what makes him think
you
would be so irresistible?” Elizabeth asked Dan.

“In all the years you’ve lived in this town, you never dated, not even once.”

“And you’re such a prime catch?” She shook her head. “What did he say when you told him
why
I didn’t date, Dan?”

Dan was noticeably silent.

Larry answered. “He didn’t say a word about it, but, I
did
explain that Dan had threatened all the guys away from you. I’m almost as much to blame as he is, Lizzy, and I apologize. I knew it was wrong and never did a thing about it, but I wasn’t going to let them accuse you or your family based on misconceptions.” He clapped Dan on the back, hard. “Danny-boy here has since lost a few brownie points with the District Attorney.”

“I honestly cannot believe this.” She stared at Dan, shaking her head. “Once this is all over, it might even be funny.”

“Doubt it,” Larry muttered.

“And what happened to Will being your lead suspect?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw William quickly turn his head to look at her.

“They approached Darcy, just as I thought they would,” Dan replied.

“And...”

When Dan didn’t answer, Larry responded, “Darcy contacted
me
to report it.”

Elizabeth threw a slight smile at William. “Of course he did.” She turned her head toward Dan and crossed her arms. “That must have been an unhappy moment for you, Dan, but it doesn’t surprise me. Do I have to say the words ‘I told you so’ or can we leave it as implied?”

Dan ignored her. “I decided to recruit him to help with the investigation.”

Elizabeth tightened her eyes. “I thought everything was done over the phone?”

Larry replied again, “We asked Darcy to insist that he wouldn’t transfer that much money to a bank account—he told them he wanted to meet them in person.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Maybe you don’t realize it yet, Dan, but Will just saved your entire investigation. If he had beat the life out of Smith like he wanted to, you would have lost your contact. Instead, Will kept going with the ruse and completed the deal.” Elizabeth glared at Dan.

Dan remained quiet.

Elizabeth continued, “When we spoke about this the other day, you swore that none of this was personal, but I think you need to work on that. If it had been your sister in this trailer tonight instead of me—even if she
were
a suspect—I don’t think you would have waited to send someone to help her.”

Elizabeth didn’t wait for anyone to reply. She turned and walked toward the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

After taking a few moments to calm down, she washed her face, and was very grateful to whoever had placed mint mouthwash and cups in there, too.

Rolling her injured shoulder a few times to loosen it, she thought,
I’d better put ice on it soon.
She almost laughed when she thought of all the times she had thought that same sentence since she had met William.

When she came out, William was leaning against the wall across from the door. “They’re gone. Larry pulled out all their microphones, too.” He met her gaze for several seconds. “Can you forgive me?”

“Forgive
you
?” Elizabeth opened her eyes wide. “What for?”

“For not telling you that I had joined the investigation. For not getting here sooner. For losing my temper so badly that I ignored you.” His eyes pleaded with her. “I didn’t want to take out my anger on
you
, Elizabeth.”

“I understand. I understood from the beginning.”

He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the wall behind him. “I was already impatient to land, but when I got the picture...” He swallowed hard. “As soon as the plane touched down, I turned on my phone and received Gardiner’s text saying he sent you to the meeting. I drove as fast as I could. I’ll probably receive a bunch of tickets in the mail next week from the stoplight cameras.”

“You got another picture?” Elizabeth gasped. “Of
that
?” She gestured toward Georgiana’s desk.

He nodded.

“I’m sorry, Will, you seem to get the really bad ones.”

He shook his head and chuckled without mirth. “I needed to see both of them. Besides, the other one changed to something more pleasant. Maybe this one will, too.” He smiled crookedly.

She cocked her head to the side. When he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “How many red lights did you run?”

He hesitated and frowned. “I lost track.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, Will. I didn’t tell you about the investigation when I found out, either.” She smiled teasingly. “And that only proves that we can both keep a secret.” Her expression became more serious. “You were angry, but it’s understandable. It could have been a lot worse.”

William shook his head. “Honestly, if you hadn’t stopped me when you did, Larry might have had to pull his gun to keep me from wringing Dan’s neck. Hearing of your trust and faith in me cooled my temper.”

His gaze captured hers, and she felt as if she would never be able to look away again.

She whispered, “Thank you for saving me, Will.”

“You saved me right back, Elizabeth.” He took a deep breath. “Come here.”

She was in his embrace before she could take in another breath.

~

William pushed off the wall and nearly crushed her to him. How he loved this precedent they’d set. It didn’t matter whether he ached for more every time, he couldn’t resist taking her in his arms any time she was upset, and he certainly didn’t mind holding her for as long as she’d let him.

The woman in his arms would never stop amazing him.

Dan had manipulated almost everyone around her during her entire life, but
she
wasn’t intimidated by him in the least. After all she had been through tonight, she still had calmly taken him on.

William laid his cheek on the top of her head. One of these days, he might not be able to stop himself from kissing her.
No,
he thought,
I’ll always stop unless she wants more. I can’t betray her trust.

Elizabeth’s phone made a tone she had come to know was meant to remind her that she had not yet looked at a picture from the gypsies.

“Speaking of pictures...”

Elizabeth moved away from him to take out her phone.

Couldn’t they have given me another minute or two?